Lock link chain



Feb. 5, 1952 G. H. KNUTSON 2,584,134

LOCK LINK CHAIN Filed March 8, 1948 2 SHEETSSHEET l INVENTOR.

ATTU RN EYS Feb. 5, 1952 KNUTSON 2,584,134

LOCK LINK CHAIN Filed March 8, 1948 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 INVENTOR.

' Got/70rd H/f/z m ATTU R N EYE Patented Feb. 5, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT 1 OFFICE LOCK LINK CHAIN Gothard I- I. Knutson, Pelican Rapids, Minn. Application March'8, 1948, Serial No. 13,621

g 2 Claims. I

arranged when the door is in closed position, and

the panels are located in overhead horizontal position when the door is open, and. suitable means are employed for raising and lowering the door. In carrying out my invention I employ apair of laterally spaced sprocket chains or carriers to the links of which the door panels are fastened, and complementary sprocket wheels are provided for supporting and actuating the conveyor chains, together with an overhead track for supporting the chains and door in overhead open position. The vertically and horizontally movable flexible door may be slid to alternate positions from a suitable source of power, or the flexible door may be counterbalanced for facile manual operation.

Means are provided whereby the door, in upright closed position, is self-supported upon a base or floor, thus relieving the conveyor chains of their load, and the links of the chains are interlocked to retain the interconnected panels or boards of the door as a stabilized, rigid, upright structure. The links of the chains are so constructed for co-action with their supporting and actuating sprocket wheels, that the overlapping links may relatively be extended and contracted to facilitate movement around their'actuating supports, and to lock the links and panels when the door is in open and closed positions.

The invention includesa minimum number of parts that may with facility be manufactured at comparatively low cost of production and the parts may be assembled with convenience to constitute a conveyor chain or carrier that is simple in construction and operation, and which may be installed with the flexible door, or other similar structure, with a minimum expenditure of time and labor.

The invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts as will hereinafter be described, and more particularly set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a complete example of a physical embodiment of my invention wherein the parts are combined and arranged in accord with one mode I have devised for the practical application of the principles of my invention. It will however be understood that changes and alterations are contemplated and may be made in these exemplifying drawings and mechanical structures within the scope of my claims without departing from the principles of the invention.

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of portions of an overhead sliding door equippedwith the conveyor chain or carrier of my invention; and Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view at line 2- -2 of Fig. 1, showing one of the sprocket wheels and the relation thereto of a door panel.

Figure 3 is a plan view of a portion of a chain 1; showing a complete link-structure and parts of adjoining links.

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view disclosing related parts of the chain.

Figures 5 and 6 are partial sectional views showing the relative movement of the chain elements as the chain is passing around its supporting and actuating sprocket wheel.

Figure 7 is a detail sectional View as at line 1-1 of Fig. 1 showing the bumper or stop at the rear end of the elevated or overhead tracks for the flexible door; and

Figure 8 is a detail view of one of the brakes for the door panels, as at line 88 of Fig.1.

In order that the general arrangement and utility of parts may readily be understood I have shown in the assembly view Fig. 1 an installation of the conveyor chains for operating a door having flexible panels, boards, or strips, as a closure for the door opening at the left side of the figure of drawing, and portions of the garage or other building are indicated as F for a floor or base and C to designate a ceiling or overhead structure. The panel-door is equipped with two laterally spaced conveyor chains and the door. in open position, is supported by the chains upon tracks T that are of channel shape bars suspended from the ceiling by brackets or hangers H, and the inner ends of the tracks are equipped with bumpers or stops .8. I

Inasmuch as the two chains are identical, a description of one as illustrated will suflice for both, and one of dual sprockets or sprocket wheels W is also shown, for supporting and actuating the chains and flexible door. The sprocket wheel W is journaled on a transverse shaft I mounted over the doorway of the building in bearings including a cap 2, and a V-shaped hanger 3 suspended from the ceiling C or other overhead structure. The track T, in addition to its rear hanger, is supported at its front end by 3 means of a pair of curved arms 4, each of which is attached at one end to the front end of the track with its front end supported, as at 5, on the shaft l.

The flexible door is made up of a suitable number of horizontal panels or boards 6, each having an edge tongue 1 and a complementary groove 8; and at the left in Fig. 1 it will be seen that the tongue and groove panels are inter-connected, and locked, in upright positions to close the doorway, and provide a self-supported structure, resting on the base or floor F, and this closure is rigidly held as a solid structure by the locked links of the conveyor chains to which the panels are attached.

Each panel is rigidly mounted upona holder that includes a pair of angle plates 9 and it, which are bolted at H to the panels, and the inwardly projecting flanges of the plates are united by a cross bar 12, shorter than the plates, to form the link-holders of the chain.

Each of the overlapping links I3 of the chain is enclosed within the holder, and the holder with its rigidly attached panel, is relatively movable in its holder asthe panel passes around the sprocket wheel W. For this purpose, each link is provided with a pair of longitudinally extending and spaced slots I4 and 15, an end hole 15, and an open end slot 11; and the overlapping links are coupled together by an actuating pin is and a hinge pin I9, These pins are mounted in pairs of holes For" the holders, and they are each providedwith a pair of bushings or tubular rollers 23 which are mounted" as anti-friction devices in the registering holes and slots of the links; and cotter pins as 2! are passed through the holes in the opposite ends of the pins to retain the pins and the rollers in operative position, and washers, asli, may be interposed between the rollers and the holders, as indicated.

Preferably the sprocket wheel W consists of two spaced plates 23 and M rigidl connected by spacers 25, and as here shown the wheel is of hexagonal shape and provided with six pairs of forked spurs 2'6, spaced wider apart than the distance between the actuating pin 18 and the hinge pin 19 of the links. ,Thus, as the door is opened, a forked spur of the revolving sprocket wheel engages an actuating pin l8 and lifts the holder and panel relatively to the lin'ks,thereby r permitting the overlapped links to flex and pass around the wheel with the panel, and the successive panels are pushed along the track T to open position or the door. I

At the outer opposite sides of the two tracks, one or more pairs of opposed resilient brakes are provided for retaining' the panels, so that successive panels may be pulled from horizontal position and turned around the wheels to vertical or upright position for closing the door. As best seen in Fig. 8 each brake includes an angle bracket 21 bolted to a suitable support, as the side wall of a garage, and a friction shoe 2% for engagement with theedge or end of a panel, and the shoe is mounted by a pin-29. in the bracket.

For resiliently pressing the shoe against the edge of the panel two springs 30, 30 are coiled about pins 31 of the shoe and interposed between the shoe and the bracket, which is provided with guide holes for the pins.

Thus when the door is in open position and the overlapping links co-act with the holders to solidify the flexible door, the opposed brakes frictionally engage the opposite ends of the second panel. When the door is being closed by the revolving sprocket wheel, a spur of the wheel engages an actuating pin on the first panel and pulls I the panel and its holder away from the retained second panel, thereby unlocking the overlapping links, so that the panel and link may turn freely around the wheel. Successive panels are thus disengaged and turned around the wheel, and the successive panels piled in upright position are interconnected by their complementary tongue and groove joints, and locked by the relatively movable links, to form a rigid and solid closure.

Having thus fully described invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a flexible closure adapted for actuation by a chain and sprocket, the combination with multiple panels, and a bracket holder mounted on each panel, of a pair of overlapping longitudinally movable links mounted in each bracket holder, said links interconnecting said bracket holders in spaced relation to each other, co-acting tongue and groove means on the edges of said panels for maintaining the edges of adjoining panels in edge to edge relation to each other, and coacting means comprising an open'ended slot at the end of one link and a hinge pin on the other link for locking together the interconnected and aligned panels.

2. In a conveyor chain having a holder formed from a pair of angle plates having inwardly projecting flanges and a cross bar uniting the flanges and the flanges carrying a hinge pin and a spaced actuating pin the improvement comprising a pair of longitudinally slotted overlapping links one of said links being mounted for reciprocation on the actuating pin and the other coupled to said hinge pin, said last link having an open ended slot for locking engagement with the actuating pin, and anti-friction rollers mounted on said pins for coaction with a sprocket wheel.

GQTHARD H. KNUTSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the f le of this patent:

nn TEns rArEs PATENTS Number 7 

